Saithe and Greenland halibut – quiet on the eastern grounds

‘We had a decent showing of silver smelt on the way eastwards but fishing for saithe and Greenland halibut has been very quiet. We came out here hoping to see some Greenland halibut as they tend to show up in June, but that hasn’t been the case so far,’ said freezer trawler Therney’s skipper Kristinn Gestsson.

When we spoke to him, Kristinn Gestsson and his crew were fishing off south-eastern Iceland and he said they had seen some saithe as they began fishing there.

‘Örfirisey went north to the Héraðsflói Deeps where there is often good fishing on Greenland halibut at this time of year but it was slow there so they came back south again. There are more trawlers fishing here and it seems there are a few with quite a bit left of their Greenland halibut quotas. The Hampidjan Square grounds off the west and the area further off there has always been the most productive area for Greenland halibut, but out there the fish disappear off into the deeper water in June and you have to go down to 600 to 700 fathoms for any hope of catching anything,’ he said, adding that there should be no problem catching saithe off the west of Iceland Hali grounds at this time of year.

‘The problem is that you daren’t shoot away there unless you have as much quota for cod as for saithe. There is cod everywhere, and of course it’s great to hear that the cod quota looks like being increased,’ Kristinn Gestsson commented.